Elisha David’s Birth Story – October 28, 2006

The day before our second son was born I started having contractions about 15 minutes apart. I really did not think much about it because I had had a lot of Braxton hicks contractions. I remember going shopping at Target with my grandma to get a few baby things and while we were there I had several contractions that got my attention, but then by the end of the day they still had not picked up. That night I went to bed thinking I was never going to go into labor. However, at about 5:00 am a contraction woke me up. I laid there to see when another one would come and in about 10 minutes I had another contraction. I tried to go back to sleep, but I could not sleep through the contractions. I rolled over and told my husband I was having contractions. We thought about calling our doula but decided to wait till a little later in the morning since neither one of us was totally convinced it was real labor. About 6:00 am I got up because I felt uncomfortable lying in bed. I did some cleaning around the house, sat on the birth ball, and tried to relax. At about 7:00 am we decided to call the doula and she said it sounded like I was in early labor. She reminded me to rest, to keep eating and drinking, and to call her in a little while to tell her how things were going. I called her back in an hour or two and nothing had really changed so she said to keep her updated. I spent a lot of the morning on and off the birth ball because it seemed to help with the contractions. Later we decided to take our son for a walk since walking was supposed to help get things going. We walked for about an hour, but the contractions did not get any closer together. At about noon we set down to eat lunch and during lunch I had a strong contraction that was tough to sit through. Even though, the contractions seemed to be getting a little stronger they still were not getting any closer together, in fact they had started to get a little further apart. I put my son down for a nap at 1:00 pm and decided to go for another walk. I got back from the walk and got back on the birth ball. At about 2:45 pm I decided to call our doula and tell her what was going on. We decided that she would be at our house in about two hours to be on the safe side because she did not want my water to break before she got here. She suggested I try to go lay down for awhile. I laid down and had a strong contraction and I knew there was no way I could lay down and rest through the contractions. At the very end of that contraction I “heard” and “felt” my water break at 2:54 pm and I jumped up out of the bed. I ran into the living room and told my husband my water broke. He asked if I was sure and I told him I was pretty sure as there was water everywhere. We were both completely shocked. I called the doula and she said she was leaving right away. We called the doctor and he said to come into the hospital. We were wanting to stay home as long as possible but I think we both were unsure of how far I had progressed and felt better about heading to the hospital so we called our doula and told her to meet us there instead. We could not get a hold of my grandparents so they could take our older son so it took us about 45 minutes before we finally left for the hospital. On the way to the hospital we got stuck in the Penn St./Purdue football traffic. It was kind of funny because the whole pregnancy my husband had said the baby would come during that game. Needless to say the ride to the hospital was a little intense because my contractions were hard to deal with while sitting down and my husband was trying to find back ways to get around the traffic. We got to the hospital at around 4:20 pm. I got changed and just as the nurse was about to check me and hook me up to the monitor our doula walked in. I was so relieved that she made it. The nurse checked me and I was 5 cm almost 6 cm. I could not believe I was that far because the contractions were still about 10 minutes apart and I was handling them ok on my own. Our doula suggested that we take a walk. We went for a little walk, but I was ready to go back to the room because the contractions were starting to pick up in intensity. I spent a lot of time on the birthing ball leaning into my husband and my doula did hip squeezes to ease the back pain. The doula also suggested I hang around my husband’s neck during the contractions. In this position I could really feel the baby pressing against my cervix. The biggest relief during the whole labor was the hip squeezes. Our doula also brought some tea with honey in it which also helped because it gave me some much needed energy. At some point I got into a half kneeling/ half squatting position. Now the contractions were very close together and very strong. I became focused inward and remember really only hearing my doula and my husband, everyone else was just background noise. I remember telling my husband and doula that I do not think I can do this anymore. They both kept encouraging me and reassuring me that I was doing it and that I could continue to do it. The nurse came back in and wanted to check me because I was feeling a lot of pressure. She checked and I was almost at 10 cm but had a little bit of a lip left. The doula suggested I turn around in the bed and lean on the back. It took one maybe two contractions in this position until I knew I was completely dilated and ready to push. At that point I remember being very adamant about the fact that I needed to push because it felt like nobody but my doula and my husband believed me that I was ready to push. We wanted to try to deliver in the squatting position but the nurse said we did not have time to get the bar set up. At that point I did not care; I just wanted to be able to push because they told me I could not until the doctor got there. I had to wait what felt like an eternity for the doctor to get there. Needing to push but being told not to by the hospital staff was probably the hardest part of my whole labor but my husband and doula did a great job of helping me stay focused and relaxed. Much to my relief the doctor finally showed up and I was able to push. Finally being able to push was the best feeling and after just a few contractions I could feel the baby crowning and he was born shortly after that at 6:24 pm without any pain medications or other interventions. They put him on my stomach and it was so incredible to see him for the first time. My eyes locked with his gorgeous little blue eyes and we just looked at each other. I fell in love with him. He had blond hair and everything was perfect about him. I remember just enjoying the moment. My doula helped me get him to breastfeed for the first time before they took him to clean him up and check him. Our doula stayed with us for quite a while and made sure we were all settled in before she left. The whole experience was so empowering and incredible. My husband and my doula were awesome. Overall, I would say the birth was not as painful as everyone makes it out to be. Yes it did hurt, yes it was intense, but in a good sort of way; with the right support system anyone can do it. I think all pregnant women should have a doula. If my husband was not in the military and we were able to continue living here in West Lafayette, we would definitely have our doula at our next birth which we hope to have at home.